Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr. swears in Dr. Carla Hayden as the 14th Librarian of Congress, along with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan and Mrs. Colleen Hayden, September 14, 2016.

Honoring The Friends of the Law Library of Congress Board of Governors Past President Kim Phan (American University WCL photos; Billie Jo Kauffman)

This finely rendered miniature manuscript contains the text of Magna Carta, the Charter of the Forest, and the thirteenth-century statutes of England. The illuminated letter “E” at the beginning of the text is the first letter of the name Eduardus, or King Edward I, who confirmed Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest in 1297. Bound volumes of the statutes of England, like the one on display, were produced in large numbers in the fourteenth century to be used as portable legal references

Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; The Right Honourable The Lord Igor Judge; Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr.; Law Librarian of Congress David S. Mao (A. Reynolds)

HRH The Princess Royal, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and others are welcomed to the Library of Congress by Law Librarian of Congress David S. Mao (Library of Congress photos: Amanda Reynolds)

International Law Institute Chinese Legal Delegation visits the Library of Congress (International Law Institute photos)

Dr. James Billington, Librarian of Congress, looks upon one of the many rare books contained in the Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (Library of Congress photos; Carol M. Highsmith (1946)).

Dr. James Hadley Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress (Library of Congress photos)

Dr. Billington served as the 13th Librarian of Congress after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, and his appointment was approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate. He retired as Librarian on September 30, 2015.

Rick Fitzgerald, Former Librarian of Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate of The Library of Congress (Library of Congress photos)

Acting Law Librarian Charles Doyle; former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor; Charles Camp, president of the Friends of the Law Library of Congress; and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington gather at Washington’s historic Willard Hotel to honor Justice O’Connor.

Sherman Jackson, King Faisal Chair of Islamic Thought and Culture at the University of Southern California; Issam Saliba, Law Library of Congress; and from Harvard Law School, Intisar A. Rabb, professor of law and co-director of the Islamic Legal Studies program and Kristen A. Stilt, professor of law and co-director of Islamic Legal Studies.

The beautiful Library of Congress Reading Room, open to the public (Library of Congress photos)